Ping Sin

Ingredients

The beef

• 700 gbeef
• skirt, flank or rump
• cut in thin strips

The marinade

• 4 tablespoonsfish sauce
• 2 tablespoonsoyster sauce
• 2 tablespoonssoy sauce
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tablespoonssugar
• or palm sugar
• 2 teaspoonsblack pepper
• 1 tablespoontoasted rice powder
• khao khua, optional
• 2 tablespoonsoil

To grill

• charcoal
• skewers, or a wire grill
• a rack for drying

To serve

• sticky rice
• jeow som
• fresh herbs and raw vegetables

Directions

1. Set the oven to its lowest setting. Give it an hour with the door ajar. Cut at right angles to those lines. Cut the strips out fairly thin. About half a centimetre works well. Trim any hard sinew from the meat. Cut the sinew away before slicing. Put the beef in the freezer briefly. Give it about twenty full minutes.
2. Slice the beef across the grain. Cut it all into thin even strips. Make them about a finger long. Keep them all about the same thickness. Mix the fish sauce, oyster and soy. Add the garlic, sugar and pepper.
3. Add the toasted rice powder and oil. Sugar helps the meat caramelise. Keep the heat moderate for that. Mix the marinade through the beef. Work it in well with your hands. Every single strip should be coated. Lay the strips out on a wire rack. Do not let them touch each other.
4. Lay them in strong direct sun. Cover them over with a fine net. Give them two or three full hours. Bring them in before the evening. Set the oven to its lowest setting. Give them about one full hour.
5. Wait until it is covered in grey ash. Wait for the fire to burn down properly. Thread the strips onto skewers. They also stop strips falling through.
6. Thread them lengthwise along the skewer. Soak the wooden skewers first. Dry skewers burn through on the grill. Soak them for thirty minutes in water. Lay the skewers on the hot grill. Give them about three minutes.
7. Turn them and give three more minutes. Thin strips of beef cook very fast. Take them off while still juicy. Serving it is always done hot. Serve warm sticky rice alongside. Serve jeow som alongside for dipping. Serve fresh mint and coriander. Serve raw vegetables alongside. People take them between mouthfuls.

Technique

• The marinated meat is often sun-dried a few hours before grilling, which concentrates the flavour and firms the texture so it grills without falling apart. That suits a hot dry climate but is riskier in a humid or cool one, and the atlas says so plainly: dry it in a low oven with the door propped open for an hour instead, or skip the drying entirely — the dish works perfectly well without it, simply less concentrated.
• Cut the beef across the grain rather than along it: the muscle fibres run in visible lines, and cutting at right angles to them shortens the fibres and makes the meat far more tender. Firm the meat in the freezer twenty minutes first, since partly frozen beef holds its shape under the knife where soft meat squashes.
• The sugar in the marinade is what gives the char and colour and balances the fish sauce, but it also burns readily — grill over grey-ashed embers rather than flames and watch it closely.

Substitutions

• Skirt, flank or rump all suit this, being flavourful working muscles cut thin at about half a centimetre.
• Khao khua, toasted ground sticky rice, gives a nutty aroma and slight texture and is used across Lao cooking; it is optional here.

Variations

• The atlas also carries ping kai, grilled chicken by the same method — ping means grilled in Lao, sin means meat and kai chicken, and ping covers a whole family of grilled foods.
• If drying the strips, space them on a rack so air reaches both sides, cover them against flies, and stop while the surface is leathery but the inside still supple; fully dried meat will not grill well.
• Take the strips off while still juicy, since thin beef dries out fast and carries on cooking off the heat; aim for dark charred patches rather than blackness.

History

Grilled at Lao roadside braziers from late afternoon; the meat is often sun-dried briefly before grilling.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ping Sin?

Ping Sin is a street food from Laos: marinated beef strips grilled over charcoal and eaten with jeow and sticky rice. Grilled at Lao roadside braziers from late afternoon; the meat is often sun-dried briefly before grilling.

How long does Ping Sin take to make?

Ping Sin takes 30 minutes plus marinating of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Ping Sin?

Yes, within limits. Skirt, flank or rump all suit this, being flavourful working muscles cut thin at about half a centimetre. Khao khua, toasted ground sticky rice, gives a nutty aroma and slight texture and is used across Lao cooking; it is optional here.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ping Sin?

Add the toasted rice powder and oil. Sugar helps the meat caramelise. Keep the heat moderate for that. Mix the marinade through the beef. Work it in well with your hands. Every single strip should be coated. Lay the strips out on a wire rack. Do not let them touch each other.